Use of Animal Models to Assess Islet Function After Transplantation
Leif Jansson, Arne Andersson and Per-Ola Carlsson.
Department of Medical Cell Biology, Uppsala University; Uppsala, Sweden
Implantation of human islets into normoglycemic and/or hyperglycemic animals (nude mice
or rats) will allow for morphological and functional evaluation of the grafted endocrine cells
at different times after transplantation. Furthermore, the recipients can be treated with
different pharmacological agents aiming to improve engraftment. Parameters which can be
evaluated include the ability of the graft to correct hyperglycemia in recipient, the number of
surviving -cells, the cellular composition of the graft (including the degree of
revascularization and reinnervation), the development of transplant amyloid deposits as well
as the hormone releasing abilities of the implanted cells. With regard to graft morphology,
conventional histological procedures with pertinent immunofluorescent stainings will provide
the necessary information. It may also be that recent developments in imaging technology
may allow for repeated evaluations of graft size and growth in the near future. Physiological
studies on the grafts with microelectrode and microcapillary techniques, in vivo confocal
microscopy and perfusions of the implantation organs will provide valuable information of
the physiology and hormone releasing abilities of the islet transplants. The information
provided in these transplantation models may be used to correlate the morphological and
functional findings on the animal models to conditions in the recipients and donors such as
age, BMI etc.